NOV. 10 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s President-elect Giorgi Margvelashvili said he might attend the 2014 Winter Olympics Games in Sochi, Russia. His attendance would be a major boost to Russia-Georgia relations which were strained to breaking point by a personal feud between outgoing President Mikheil Saakashvili and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
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(News report from Issue No. 160, published on Nov. 13 2013)
NOV. 11 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia and Kazakhstan signed a preliminary deal to pump Russian oil through Kazakh pipelines to China. Russia’s pipeline network is full while Kazakhstan has spare capacity.
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(News report from Issue No. 160, published on Nov. 13 2013)
NOV. 6 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan has accused Iran’s military of firing shots across the border in the latest escalation of tension between the two neighbours, media reported. The Azerbaijani authorities reportedly closed a border crossing for several days after the alleged incident. Azerbaijan-Iran ties are strained
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(News report from Issue No. 160, published on Nov. 13 2013)
NOV. 6 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — It’s taken 2-1/2 years but it finally appears that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan will meet again to discuss their differences over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The announcement was made late on Nov. 5 by representatives from the United States, France and Russia who have been pushing for negotiations. The media reported the announcement the following day.
This is major news on an issue that has been threatening to damage peace in the region. Azerbaijan and Armenia are still officially at war over Nagorno-Karabakh. Only a shaky 1994 ceasefire keeps the two sides apart. There are sporadic fire-fights along the border of Nagorno-Karabakh, now controlled by Armenian-backed rebels, though.
Mr Aliyev and Mr Sargsyan last met to discuss Nagorno-Karabakh in June 2011 in the Russian city of Kazan. Those negotiations flopped over disagreements about a proposed referendum in the region. The Armenian side wanted only the current residents of the region, almost entirely pro-Armenia, to get a vote, while Azerbaijan wanted the population of Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 1990s to all have a vote.
There are plenty of hurdles ahead but even the prospect of Mr Aliyev and Mr Sargsyan’s meeting is progress.
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(News report from Issue No. 160, published on Nov. 13 2013)
NOV. 12 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — RIA-Novosti, a Russian news agency connected to the Kremlin, quoted the chairman of the Uzbek Senate, Ilgizar Sobirov, as saying that Uzbekistan would, potentially, be interested in joining the Russia-led Customs Union. Uzbekistan has previously shown little interest in joining the trade bloc.
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(News report from Issue No. 160, published on Nov. 13 2013)
NOV. 11 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Looking to stem fuel shortages, Uzbekistan has agreed a deal with neighbouring Turkmenistan to import oil to Uzbek refineries, media reported quoting a subsidiary of the Uzbek state-run energy company Uzbekneftegaz. Oil production in Uzbekistan has been decreasing and its three refineries are running below capacity.
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(News report from Issue No. 160, published on Nov. 13 2013)
NOV. 11 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — A NATO delegation flew into Baku for a three day trip designed to further military assistance and training. A second NATO delegation is due to arrive a few days later to open a NATO training centre. Both trips underline increasing close connections between Azerbaijan and NATO.
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(News report from Issue No. 160, published on Nov. 13 2013)
NOV. 6 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — After a 2-1/2 year hiatus, the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed to meet to discuss the thorny issue of Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia are still, officially, at war over the region although a 1994 cease-fire keeps the two side apart.
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(News report from Issue No. 160, published on Nov. 13 2013)
NOV. 13 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — As a foreign policy it is an unorthodox one. Azerbaijan’s government has been pushing for allies and recipients of business contracts and aid to build statues of Heydar Aliyev, a former Azerbaijani president and father of the current leader.
You can admire statues of the Heydar Aliyev across the world, from Russia to Kazakhstan to Serbia, to name just a few. They’re normally fairly similar. Heydar Aliyev, dressed in a suit, stands or sits looking statesman-like.
Heydar Aliyev is considered the father of modern Azerbaijan and is generally popular in Azerbaijan although what Russians or Kazakhs or Serbians think of him is less clear.
In any case, Mexico called Azerbaijan’s bluff earlier this year and could now be facing the consequences.
In January, the authorities in Mexico City dismantled a statue of Heydar Aliyev in a park after residents signed a petition calling for it to be taken down because of Azerbaijan’s alleged poor human rights record.
Now, though, media has reported that Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Mexico, Ilgar Mukhtarov, said $3.8b of contracts may be cancelled unless the statue is resurrected.
He said the authorities in Mexico City had reneged on deal. Azerbaijan repaired and improved two inner city parks at a cost of $5m in return for giving a statue of Heydar Aliyev pride of place.
Unorthodox foreign policy indeed.
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(News report from Issue No. 160, published on Nov. 13 2013)
OCT. 31 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Underlining Kazakhstan’s links with NATO countries, Kazakh defence minister Adilbek Dzhaksybekov flew to London for talks with his British counterpart Philip Hammond. Kazakhstan wants British advice on how to professionalise its military. Earlier this year the Kazakh government announced that it would end conscription.
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(News report from Issue No. 159, published on Nov. 6 2013)
